Homeschooling Resources for Parents in Athens Illinois

Everyone looking for homeschooling information in Athens Illinois, you have discover the ultimate website. More than 1.6 million parents chose homeschooling their kids last year. In the meantime many teachers unions have labeled the movement as irresponsible many studies reflect that whole school students do better in standardized testing than those that go to private schools. Before you pass judgment note that many influential people are a product of homeschooling. For example did you know that Alexander Graham Bell, one of the chief inventors of the telephone, was home-schooled by his mother for most of his education. With proper materials homeschooling can be more advantageous to just about any public schools. At www.GreatHomeSchoolConventions.Com our objective is to become the place for everything about homeschooling in Athens Illinois! Even in states like California, parents looking for Homeschooling in Orcutt, CA have name Great Home School Conventions the best website for homeschooling events.

GreatHomeSchoolConventions.Com the authority for everything about homeschooling in Athens Illinois!

The debate new regards to the quality of that the US educational system has been in the news cycle more than once. Mom and dads looking for a better education for their kids are confronted with limited options. These options are school vouchers or homeschooling. although the second option is today at the forefront of the conversation for many parents it is nothing new. Unlike trending subjects like charcoal toothpaste the education of our next generation is something that is here to stay, that is until we do something about it. Although a lot working parents find themselves struggling to get a homeschooling program started for their kids it is important to point out that more than two hundred thousand chose homeschooling over school vouchers in 2017 in comparison the previous calendar year. Given the right curriculum the average of parents can homeschool their kids while reinforcing the moral values the believe in. We are not going to lie and tell you that homeschooling comes without effort. Truth be told the majority of mom and dads who would like to home school their children don’t do it because they have no idea where to start. Here is where we come in. At Resources.GreatHomeSchoolConventions.Com we know homeschooling. Our tradeshows provide you with everything you need to start a homeschooling program. We offer you not only resources but also the mental support many families need. If you are serious about homeschooling their children, visit our blog.

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Physicist and Homeschooling Pioneer

Suppose you are systems engineer at NASA. Successfully getting to this point, you meet and marry a wonderful man and eventually have two more children (after escaping a previous marriage plagued with domestic abuse). You continue in your career while you and your spouse raise your children. The older children have already started school. However, suppose one of your children isn’t getting what he should from his education. You switch from public school to a Christian school, but it makes no difference. What do you do then?

When Helen Jackson was faced with this problem, she prayed about it and was led to quit her job at NASA and homeschool her children full time. While she “put her career on hold” to educate her children, she didn’t end it altogether. As the children got older, she started doing some part-time programming work and other forms of work like consulting. From there she phased back into engineering work. Once all the children had completed high school, eventually, after a few twists and turns, she got her Ph.D. from the Air Force Institute of Technology.

Nowadays, she is a research physicist for Battelle, a science and technology research company. She is currently developing software that can interpret X-ray images to look for objects that might represent a security threat. This line of research is possible because of the work of her late husband, who co-invented the X-ray spectrometer, which is a cornerstone in so much of imaging technology.

I had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Jackson a few days ago, because she will be speaking at the Midwest Homeschool Convention and the California Homeschool Convention this year. I found her warm, engaging, exceedingly intelligent, and most importantly, profoundly wise. I learned a lot from the interview, and if you are able to attend, I strongly encourage you to go to one of the conventions and listen to her talks.

Sacrifice

Dr. Jackson’s homeschooling story starts out with sacrifice. When she made the decision to homeschool her children, she had an excellent position at NASA. As an African-American woman, she was someone who the organization highlighted. People would come and take pictures of her, and at the time, she just thought it was part of the job. In reality, it was part of an effort by NASA (who was proud of having diversity in their scientific/technical staff) to highlight that when you are talented, you can become an important part of the organization, regardless of race or gender.

She obviously had a bright future at NASA, but she put it all aside because her children needed something different from traditional schools. At the time, the older of her two sons was in sixth grade but scoring at the third-grade level on standardized tests. Her daughter (who was in seventh grade) was developing a bad attitude that was being reinforced by her peers in school. When she decided that the best option was to homeschool all her children, many of her colleagues in her circle, as well as family members, said it was a dumb thing to do.

I would have to agree that from a career standpoint alone, it was a dumb thing to do. Dr. Jackson was obviously a “rising star” at NASA. She probably could have moved quickly through the ranks and made a name for herself there. In addition to overcoming so many hurdles in her personal life, think about all the time and effort she spent in education and training! I asked her if she had thought that she might be wasting all her training and talent by staying home full time and educating her children. She said: It never even crossed my mind.

Of course, it didn’t. Dr. Jackson is a mother, and a mother puts the needs of her children above her own. Not surprisingly, her children’s academic improvement was swift when they started homeschooling. Why? As Dr. Jackson told me:

Homeschooling is a tutorial, which is the best form of education.

Success

Today, her children are grown and quite successful. The son that was once underperforming three grade levels below his age now has an advanced technical degree. Her oldest child is a professor of epidemiology with over 30 publications. She has 3 masters degrees and a PhD. Her youngest daughter has a VP role in a nonprofit, with a specialized MBA. Her other sons: (1) owns a construction company which he started after graduating in chemical engineering, and (2) the youngest is a combat veteran Marine and a financial analyst consultant, with a masters degree in economics.

Of course, Dr. Jackson and her children had a lot of interesting experiences between the time they started homeschooling and the time the children went on to pursue their adult lives. They started homeschooling in Texas, when it technically wasn’t legal for them to homeschool. In the end, however, Dr. Jackson was a witness in Leeper vs. Arlington, the Texas court case that led to the legalization of homeschooling in that state. She said that the opponents of homeschooling were trying to characterize homeschooling parents as backward and uneducated. As an expert witness, she helped to convince the court that this just wasn’t true. She also highlighted her children’s academic progress in homeschooling.

When the family moved to Pennsylvania, they found that it was hostile to homeschooling as well. At one point, the state even issued a warrant to have her children taken into custody because of “neglect,” which was a common charge levied against homeschoolers, because their children were not enrolled in a traditional school. She ended up testifying before the Pennsylvania House Subcommittee on Education, on behalf of a court case regarding the legality of homeschooling.

A Homeschooling Pioneer

In other words, Dr. Jackson is a homeschooling pioneer. She not only started doing it before it was legal, but she helped to make it legal in at least two states. In the process, she and her family lost homes and livelihoods in two states, not something easy to recover from. It’s not surprising, then, that one of the messages she wants to share at the homeschool conventions is:

Don’t forget that someone had to make it legal for you.

Homeschooling is so common these days that it’s easy to forget this important point. It’s also easy to ignore the corollary: That it could become illegal at some point in the future if homeschoolers do not remain vigilant.

There is so much that I could write about Dr. Jackson, but this article is already getting too long. I encourage you to hear the rest from Dr. Jackson herself. I guarantee that you will not be disappointed.

Dr. Jackson’s sessions are sponsored by Bridgeway Academy:

Bridgeway gives your child the curriculum and learning experiences they crave, in a style that their brain needs to thrive. We match the best in curriculum, games, activities, and more to your child’s learning style to ensure they reach their full, bright potential. Easy-to-follow teacher materials, extensions, and more included.

Welcome to Great Home School Conventions. If you're trying to figure out how to start a homeschooling education program for your kids, we invite you to attend one of our events. Here you will find the latest programs and the curriculum the use best results. You also have the opportunity to speak to many experts in the field. We currently host homeschool conventions in the Southeast, the Midwest, California, Missouri, and Texas.